MATCHWATCH : Stevenage (a)

[Clyde1998]

The prem sides in the second round seemed to take it way more seriously than usual with several stuffings of championship sides....this is an extremely difficult tie

Side like Tottenham; Everton; and Brentford have a serious chance of winning this competition, if they take it seriously. I imagine all three will want to win something this season.

[Clyde1998]

To think we were on a level footing with them not so long ago, now they can put out 2 teams to give EFL teams a good hiding, that`s what good management on and off the field can do for you.

Upsetting to know Reading had that 20 years ago and then the management totally blew it through not attracting investment when being on the up and a total failure to similarly invest in the squad. Hell of a long way back to that position now!

Yep. Brighton, Brentford and Bournemouth used to be envious of us, but we blew it. Swings and roundabouts. Perhaps one day their owners will sell up to the wrong people and it'll all reverse.

Arguably, Brighton were always held back by their lack of a proper stadium. They were consistently getting 25,000+ in their new ground in the Championship before promotion.

They did the bit we didn't manage to do: stay in the Premier League for long enough to become an established side. Had we stayed up in 2008, there's little reason we couldn't have ended up in a similar position to them now with the trajectory we were on.

Brentford and Bournemouth are the two which really hit home what impact good owners can have. Bournemouth did chuck a lot of money at getting to the Premier League initially (whereas Brentford were a lot more strategic), but both have turned themselves into top-half Premier League sides. Since Madejski left, we've had okay owners at best and two terrible owners.

[tmesis]

Upsetting to know Reading had that 20 years ago and then the management totally blew it through not attracting investment when being on the up and a total failure to similarly invest in the squad. Hell of a long way back to that position now!

Yep. Brighton, Brentford and Bournemouth used to be envious of us, but we blew it. Swings and roundabouts. Perhaps one day their owners will sell up to the wrong people and it'll all reverse.

Arguably, Brighton were always held back by their lack of a proper stadium. They were consistently getting 25,000+ in their new ground in the Championship before promotion.

They did the bit we didn't manage to do: stay in the Premier League for long enough to become an established side. Had we stayed up in 2008, there's little reason we couldn't have ended up in a similar position to them now with the trajectory we were on.

Brentford and Bournemouth are the two which really hit home what impact good owners can have. Bournemouth did chuck a lot of money at getting to the Premier League initially (whereas Brentford were a lot more strategic), but both have turned themselves into top-half Premier League sides. Since Madejski left, we've had okay owners at best and two terrible owners.

It's wierd. The most important aspect of any club is recruitment. Apart from bankrolled clubs, point to any club punching above its weight, and all of them know how to find players on a budget. Any yet we are conditioned to always think it's about getting another new manager, and an owner who'll spend millions.

[Sutekh]

Yep. Brighton, Brentford and Bournemouth used to be envious of us, but we blew it. Swings and roundabouts. Perhaps one day their owners will sell up to the wrong people and it'll all reverse.

Arguably, Brighton were always held back by their lack of a proper stadium. They were consistently getting 25,000+ in their new ground in the Championship before promotion.

They did the bit we didn't manage to do: stay in the Premier League for long enough to become an established side. Had we stayed up in 2008, there's little reason we couldn't have ended up in a similar position to them now with the trajectory we were on.

Brentford and Bournemouth are the two which really hit home what impact good owners can have. Bournemouth did chuck a lot of money at getting to the Premier League initially (whereas Brentford were a lot more strategic), but both have turned themselves into top-half Premier League sides. Since Madejski left, we've had okay owners at best and two terrible owners.

It's wierd. The most important aspect of any club is recruitment. Apart from bankrolled clubs, point to any club punching above its weight, and all of them know how to find players on a budget. Any yet we are conditioned to always think it's about getting another new manager, and an owner who'll spend millions.

Bournemouth were bankrolled, Brighton were also to a degree though think they were more a bit from both camps. Brentford were more a high level of shrewd recruitment as they had finances to support what their managers needed and more, plus a shiny new stadium and facilities to impress.

Reading were the prime example of shrewd recruitment on a budget being successful, built a 106 point season on that, a points tally that will never be beaten in any division, apart from by clubs bankrolling their way through stacks of players to good for the level.

Trouble is Reading carried on with that approach in the PL and then chose to be cheap at exactly the wrong time so it was always going to be the end of that after the short sojourn.

[stealthpapes]

Yep. Brighton, Brentford and Bournemouth used to be envious of us, but we blew it. Swings and roundabouts. Perhaps one day their owners will sell up to the wrong people and it'll all reverse.

Arguably, Brighton were always held back by their lack of a proper stadium. They were consistently getting 25,000+ in their new ground in the Championship before promotion.

They did the bit we didn't manage to do: stay in the Premier League for long enough to become an established side. Had we stayed up in 2008, there's little reason we couldn't have ended up in a similar position to them now with the trajectory we were on.

Brentford and Bournemouth are the two which really hit home what impact good owners can have. Bournemouth did chuck a lot of money at getting to the Premier League initially (whereas Brentford were a lot more strategic), but both have turned themselves into top-half Premier League sides. Since Madejski left, we've had okay owners at best and two terrible owners.

It's wierd. The most important aspect of any club is recruitment. Apart from bankrolled clubs, point to any club punching above its weight, and all of them know how to find players on a budget. Any yet we are conditioned to always think it's about getting another new manager, and an owner who'll spend millions.

Yes, but have they played at Bradford?

[morganb]

viewtopic.php?t=193052&start=20#p5652390

Should either Reading or Oxford United progress to Round Three of the Carabao Cup, the Oxford v Reading fixture will be played on Tuesday, 15 September.

https://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/2026/j ... scheduled/

Ta.

Or perhaps not -

We can now confirm the date for our Carabao Cup Third Round tie, with Premier League Brentford visiting the Select Car Leasing Stadium.

Keith Andrews' Bees will make their first trip to RG2 in five years on Tuesday 15th September, kicking off at 8pm.

Full ticket details, including pricing, will be announced in due course.

Meanwhile, our away match at Oxford United, originally scheduled for Tuesday 8th September, has now been postponed.

The fixture will be rearranged for a later date, with full details to be confirmed in due course.

All at Reading Football Club share our supporters' frustration at the postponement of our trip to the Kassam Stadium. We would have been ready and willing to fulfil the fixture on its original date, but circumstances outside of our control mean that will no longer be possible.

We will communicate the new date to supporters as soon as it has been agreed.

https://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/2026/a ... confirmed/

[tmesis]

Arguably, Brighton were always held back by their lack of a proper stadium. They were consistently getting 25,000+ in their new ground in the Championship before promotion.

They did the bit we didn't manage to do: stay in the Premier League for long enough to become an established side. Had we stayed up in 2008, there's little reason we couldn't have ended up in a similar position to them now with the trajectory we were on.

Brentford and Bournemouth are the two which really hit home what impact good owners can have. Bournemouth did chuck a lot of money at getting to the Premier League initially (whereas Brentford were a lot more strategic), but both have turned themselves into top-half Premier League sides. Since Madejski left, we've had okay owners at best and two terrible owners.

It's wierd. The most important aspect of any club is recruitment. Apart from bankrolled clubs, point to any club punching above its weight, and all of them know how to find players on a budget. Any yet we are conditioned to always think it's about getting another new manager, and an owner who'll spend millions.

Bournemouth were bankrolled, Brighton were also to a degree though think they were more a bit from both camps. Brentford were more a high level of shrewd recruitment as they had finances to support what their managers needed and more, plus a shiny new stadium and facilities to impress.

Reading were the prime example of shrewd recruitment on a budget being successful, built a 106 point season on that, a points tally that will never be beaten in any division, apart from by clubs bankrolling their way through stacks of players to good for the level.

Trouble is Reading carried on with that approach in the PL and then chose to be cheap at exactly the wrong time so it was always going to be the end of that after the short sojourn.

Bournemouth were definitely bankrolled, but have learned to buy well.

As great as recruitment was for Reading 20 years ago, we also benefitted quite a lot on players known to Steve Coppell. When we got to the premier league, I don't think we signed a single player who improved the team. While it's tempting to say if we'd stayed up in 2007/8 (or come straight back up in 2008/9) we could have had a decent run in the top flight, we would have needed to up our game in terms of recuitment to do so.

The likes of Bournemouth, Brighton and Brentford are also fortunate to have gone up just as the they money in the premier league went through the roof. It's much harder for clubs going up to have enough time to build a competitive side now, and if clubs go down, they are much more likely to get back at the first time of asking. Not that that's relevant to Reading today. This feels like the early 90s, when a return to the 2nd tier looked years away, let alone getting back to the top flight.

[Sutekh]

viewtopic.php?t=193052&start=20#p5652390



https://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/2026/j ... scheduled/

Ta.

Or perhaps not -

We can now confirm the date for our Carabao Cup Third Round tie, with Premier League Brentford visiting the Select Car Leasing Stadium.

Keith Andrews' Bees will make their first trip to RG2 in five years on Tuesday 15th September, kicking off at 8pm.

Full ticket details, including pricing, will be announced in due course.

Meanwhile, our away match at Oxford United, originally scheduled for Tuesday 8th September, has now been postponed.

The fixture will be rearranged for a later date, with full details to be confirmed in due course.

All at Reading Football Club share our supporters' frustration at the postponement of our trip to the Kassam Stadium. We would have been ready and willing to fulfil the fixture on its original date, but circumstances outside of our control mean that will no longer be possible.

We will communicate the new date to supporters as soon as it has been agreed.

https://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/2026/a ... confirmed/

Does anyone know what the “circumstances beyond our control” are?

And if the Ox game is off why is the cup tie being played on the 15th?

[Clyde1998]

Ta.

Or perhaps not -

We can now confirm the date for our Carabao Cup Third Round tie, with Premier League Brentford visiting the Select Car Leasing Stadium.

Keith Andrews' Bees will make their first trip to RG2 in five years on Tuesday 15th September, kicking off at 8pm.

Full ticket details, including pricing, will be announced in due course.

Meanwhile, our away match at Oxford United, originally scheduled for Tuesday 8th September, has now been postponed.

The fixture will be rearranged for a later date, with full details to be confirmed in due course.

All at Reading Football Club share our supporters' frustration at the postponement of our trip to the Kassam Stadium. We would have been ready and willing to fulfil the fixture on its original date, but circumstances outside of our control mean that will no longer be possible.

We will communicate the new date to supporters as soon as it has been agreed.

https://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/2026/a ... confirmed/

Does anyone know what the “circumstances beyond our control” are?

And if the Ox game is off why is the cup tie being played on the 15th?

A few people on the Oxford forum seem to think it's due to the St Giles fair taking place on the 8th, but the clubs and police would've known that was then when they moved the game to the 8th September.